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Mountain house meals

Scoutman

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 8, 2016
Messages
635
Location
Ga now, Tx soon
With my upcoming move to Texas, I'm going to be 1 1/2-2 hours to nearest public areas. So I'm going to make a bed platform in my truck and use camper shell for a tent. I've been hunting in Colorado for last 10 years and have eaten alot of mountain house meals, anyone have any better options? They aren't bad but you might know something better.
 
If you read through the backcountry section, there is a member who was making his own meals for backcountry hunts. Might not work for you but it might be a nice change of pace. I've eaten the mountain house stuff for a long weekend and it takes good but by the time I got home my body was not thrilled with me lol.
 
I'm partial to the chicken and dumplings, polenta, Texas state Fair chili, tortilla soup, and banana pudding.
 
I dehydrate my own meals and it works great. There is a big difference between freeze dried and dehydrated, so you should understand that before buying a new dehydrator for this reason. But if you already have one, there are lots of sites that have recipes listed. One thing you will hear is that when dehydrating don't use meat with any fat and get all of the fat off it that you can. That is true if you are going to store the stuff for years in a food saver bag and eat it when the world ends. but if you make them right before your trip, freeze them and then keep them dry and cool during your trip, you can use some fat.

I personally do a lot of things like red beans and rice with turkey sausage (and corn bread!!!) or spaghetti and Venison sauce. Cook those low fat meats, rinse them and clean the fat/oil out of the pan. Then cook them again just long enough to see that no more oil/fat is coming out of them. Rinse them and pat them in a paper towel. Then put them into your meal just like you would normally. Make the meal. Then just scoop it on the dehydrator. i try to put one serving (a real mans portion) on each tray. That way when it dries, you know that even tho it looks small each tray is a meal.

I put a little freezer paper in a Foodsaver bag, dump in the contents of one tray and then seal. Dried food gets sharp and hard. So it will punch a hole thru the foodsaver bags if you don't protect them. To reheat them, I made an "envelope" out of the thermal bubble sheets that you can buy at home depot.

So I will take out the freezer paper, line my bowl with that. Now I have just the meal in my foodsaver bag. Pour in my hot water, fold over the envelop and wait like you would a mountain house. Dump it out into my bowl, eat and then throw away the freezer paper and don't even have to wash the bowl.
 
The above post is spot on. Here are a couple of links for backpacking food that you'll actually like, and they wont make you sick. I make a pretty good supply of it and keep it in my hunting box along with a jetboil, water purifier, and a titanium spoon. You can buy bags from Packit Gourmet to store and rehydrate in, and you're all set. Also, the Excalibur dehydrator is outstanding for preparing this stuff. I backpack hunt as well as hunting ground that's too far from food to leave mid day for lunch. Sit on the tailgate to cook, take a nap, get back in the tree. Works well, and keeps you from smelling like a greasy spoon when you head back for the afternoon hunt.
http://www.grittybowmen.com/gritty-...he-field-what-are-you-eating-with-aron-snyder
http://www.backpackingchef.com/recipes-for-adventure-ebook.html
 
Yes. I have a 9-tray excalibur. I even bought the clear door so I can watch my food dry... well, not the whole time. :)

It dries everything very evenly and I won't try to save a few bucks if this ever dies - i will be getting another one.
Gear envy here.
 
Doesn't matter. If I don't shoot a deer soon, I won't be making jerky. It's just a nice piece of furniture then.
I gotta get my horn-hunting behind me and start piling up some meat.
Hope you stick a couple soon! I've skinned several for my kids and wife, and a couple of my own, but I'm too trifling to get busy making jerky! I need to shoot a couple nannies myself. Backpacking meals and jerky use up a lot of meat!
 
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